An odd thought

Here is a website I just stumbled across. It sets out, in a few paragraphs, exactly what many millions of Evangelical Christians believe. Many of them are smart. Many are at least reasonably well-educated. Yet what they believe is, in truth, at least as insane as any of the beliefs you are likely to find down your local mental asylum.

How are such utterly ridiculous beliefs able to install themselves so successfully in the heads of so many smart, educated people?

Consider just how potent the mechanisms involved must be!

Surely we should all acknowledge religion has this extraordinary power, and, once we've properly acknowledged it, shouldn't every religious person then be asking themselves: "Isn't it entirely possible that I too believe some pretty nutty things, and that the reason I struggle to recognize that they are nutty is that these same mechanisms are operating on me?"

Or do you find this thought is one your mind seems strangely unwilling to entertain for very long?

POSTSCRIPT: I imagine many religious folk will respond: "But many atheists believe in the powers of psychics and astrologers to foretell the future, etc. Which is also ridiculous." Which is true. But does it undermine the moral I'm drawing above?

Baseball, steroids, and jurisprudence

Here is a question for the jurisprudes and the crim law types out there (or just anyone else with an opinion):

In 1991, baseball established by rule that it was against the rules of the game to use a range of drugs, including steroids. There was no testing, no enforcement mechanism, and no determinate punishments for using steroids. That was the state of affairs until the start of the 2006 season, thus it was the state of affairs from 2001-03, when Alex Rodriguez has admitted to using steroids and when he tested positive. Of course, the commissioner did have catch-all "best interests of baseball" powers, so punishment was possible through that power. But absent testing, there arguably was no way ever to find out that someone was using steroids.

So, my question: Has Rodriguez "cheated" or "broken the rules" of baseball (put aside societal laws against steroid distribution, possession, or use) given the legal state as described. Is a stated legal prohibition that is not, as a matter of law, enforceable or punishable, a legal prohibition that can be violated?

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